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“In the literature of love, jealousy often leads to tragic consequences” How is jealousy presented?

In “Othello”, jealousy is presented as the first step to mental degradation and chaos, it is a tool of
manipulation used by Iago to completely transform Othello’s personality and expose his weakness
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The extract opens with the motif of the “handkerchief”, which Iago places a focus on by using the
intensifier “such a handkerchief”, pointing to the audience and to Othello the importance of the
symbol of courtly love to Othello and Desdemona’s love
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However, being in the hands of Cassio and being
“handled” by most of the characters in the play, its symbolical importance is undermined, causing
Othello’s slow destruction of his pride reflected in the unfinished sentence “If it be that--”
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One could also sense the irony of the handkerchief being “too little” to “bind” his head, a metaphor
showing the insignificant nature of the handkerchief, but strong enough to be an “ocular proof”,
which Iago skilfully brings up in this extract as well- “against her with the other proofs”, establishing
the destructive nature of jealousy to ones logic as well as the irrational origins of jealous thoughts,
metaphorically described as “monster in your thought”
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One could also say that such contrasts in one’s representation show the polarized attitudes towards
women and the Elizabethan society’s obsession with the opposites- heaven of hell; good or evil,
having no middle ground directly portrayed by Othello’s imperative “be sure to prove my love a
whore”, which could be a societal factor disabling Othello to turn back and prevent the tragedy
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However, in this extract, there is a sense of
concreteness- “Shall ne’er look back” and “bloody thoughts”, which Iago skilfully cements and
replaces with a sense of brotherly love, reflecting a marriage vow, which Shakespeare gives a holy
meaning to in the stage directions- “Kneels” and “They rise”, portraying their unification through
spatial setting
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However, jealousy is not the only factor,
giving Othello power as through “your request” and “Let him command” Iago also sparks Othello’s
warrior attitude which he applied in all spheres of life as suggested by Burgress, making him
vulnerable to warrior instinct of defence when under attack
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One could say that Iago’s jealousy is even
more important as it is the initial jealousy- “I hate the Moor”
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Later in the play the essence of Iago’s jealousy, similarly to Othello’s jealousy, is
seen to be irrational- “he hath a daily beauty in his life that makes me ugly”, placing juxtaposing

concepts once again and emphasising on the superficiality of reason behind the malicious actions of
the rightfully named “Machiavellian villain”
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Similarly, Claudio’s love for Hero seems unstable since the very beginning, with him
exposing his jealous tendencies- “I would scarce trust myself”, leading to contrasting remarks- “such
a jewel” and “beauty is a witch”, portraying the distortion of vision caused by jealousy seen in
Othello as well- “fair warrior” and “fair devil”
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However, in the case of Hero, her “death” brings her
salvation, contrasting with the frustrating to the audiences of “Othello” “a guiltless death I die”,
pointing to the deeply tragic consequences of jealousy
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